The org-babel-load-file behavior for symlinks seems to have changed between org-9.1.5(emacs 26.3) and org-9.3(emacs 27.0.6). The change seems to be that org-9.3 gets the modification time for the file, which org-9.1.5 resolves the file in case the orginial file is a symlink before doing the same. My literate config.org and init.el are located at ~/dotfiles/emacs/.emacs.d/ config.org and ~/dotfiles/emacs/.emacs.d/init.el respectively. The above files are then symlinked to ~/.emacs.d using stow. The tangled file for ~/.emacs.d/config.org is then located at ~/.emacs.d/config.el (this file is not a symlink). What did I do? Changed ~/.emacs.d/config.org and restarted emacs. What did I expect to happen? Expect tangled ~/.emacs.d/config.el to be updated with the new changed and loaded as was the case in org-9.1.5(emacs 26.3) What happened instead? The file ~/.emacs.d/config.el was not updated and the old file was loaded. This happens because in org-9.3,the tangled ~/.emacs.d/config.el is always newer than the symlink ~/.emacs.d/config.org despite the fact that the resolved file ~/dotfiles/emacs/.emacs.d/config.org has been changed. Remember to cover the basics, that is, what you expected to happen and what in fact did happen. You don't know how to make a good report? See https://orgmode.org/manual/Feedback.html#Feedback Your bug report will be posted to the Org mailing list. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emacs : GNU Emacs 27.0.60 (build 3, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.24.13) of 2020-01-19 Package: Org mode version 9.3 (release_9.3 @ /home/ricky_saurav/repos/emacs/build/share/emacs/27.0.60/lisp/org/) current state: ============== (setq org-src-mode-hook '(org-src-babel-configure-edit-buffer org-src-mode-configure-edit-buffer) org-link-shell-confirm-function 'yes-or-no-p org-metadown-hook '(org-babel-pop-to-session-maybe) org-clock-out-hook '(org-clock-remove-empty-clock-drawer) org-html-format-inlinetask-function 'org-html-format-inlinetask-default-function org-odt-format-headline-function 'org-odt-format-headline-default-function org-agenda-files '("~/orgfiles/agenda/schedule.org") org-ascii-format-inlinetask-function 'org-ascii-format-inlinetask-default org-mode-hook '(org-bullets-mode #[0 "\301\211 \207" [imenu-create-index-function org-imenu-get-tree] 2] auto-fill-mode #[0 "\300\301\302\303\304$\207" [add-hook change-major-mode-hook org-show-all append local] 5] #[0 "\300\301\302\303\304$\207" [add-hook change-major-mode-hook org-babel-show-result-all append local] 5] org-babel-result-hide-spec org-babel-hide-all-hashes) org-odt-format-drawer-function #[514 "\207" [] 3 "\n\n(fn NAME CONTENTS)"] org-archive-hook '(org-attach-archive-delete-maybe) org-confirm-elisp-link-function 'yes-or-no-p org-agenda-before-write-hook '(org-agenda-add-entry-text) org-metaup-hook '(org-babel-load-in-session-maybe) org-bibtex-headline-format-function #[257 "\300 \236A\207" [:title] 3 "\n\n(fn ENTRY)"] org-latex-format-drawer-function #[514 "\207" [] 3 "\n\n(fn _ CONTENTS)"] org-babel-pre-tangle-hook '(save-buffer) org-tab-first-hook '(org-babel-hide-result-toggle-maybe org-babel-header-arg-expand) org-ascii-format-drawer-function #[771 " \207" [] 4 "\n\n(fn NAME CONTENTS WIDTH)"] org-occur-hook '(org-first-headline-recenter) org-cycle-hook '(org-cycle-hide-archived-subtrees org-cycle-show-empty-lines org-optimize-window-after-visibility-change) org-speed-command-hook '(org-speed-command-activate org-babel-speed-command-activate) org-odt-format-inlinetask-function 'org-odt-format-inlinetask-default-function org-confirm-shell-link-function 'yes-or-no-p org-link-parameters '(("attachment" :follow org-attach-open-link :export org-attach-export-link :complete org-attach-complete-link) ("id" :follow org-id-open) ("eww" :follow eww :store org-eww-store-link) ("rmail" :follow org-rmail-open :store org-rmail-store-link) ("mhe" :follow org-mhe-open :store org-mhe-store-link) ("irc" :follow org-irc-visit :store org-irc-store-link :export org-irc-export) ("info" :follow org-info-open :export org-info-export :store org-info-store-link) ("gnus" :follow org-gnus-open :store org-gnus-store-link) ("docview" :follow org-docview-open :export org-docview-export :store org-docview-store-link) ("bibtex" :follow org-bibtex-open :store org-bibtex-store-link) ("bbdb" :follow org-bbdb-open :export org-bbdb-export :complete org-bbdb-complete-link :store org-bbdb-store-link) ("w3m" :store org-w3m-store-link) ("treemacs" :store treemacs-store-org-link) ("file+sys") ("file+emacs") ("shell" :follow org-link--open-shell) ("news" :follow #[257 "\301\300\302 Q!\207" ["news" browse-url ":"] 5 "\n\n(fn URL)"] ) ("mailto" :follow #[257 "\301\300\302 Q!\207" ["mailto" browse-url ":"] 5 "\n\n(fn URL)"] ) ("https" :follow #[257 "\301\300\302 Q!\207" ["https" browse-url ":"] 5 "\n\n(fn URL)"] ) ("http" :follow #[257 "\301\300\302 Q!\207" ["http" browse-url ":"] 5 "\n\n(fn URL)"] ) ("ftp" :follow #[257 "\301\300\302 Q!\207" ["ftp" browse-url ":"] 5 "\n\n(fn URL)"] ) ("help" :follow org-link--open-help) ("file" :complete org-link-complete-file) ("elisp" :follow org-link--open-elisp) ("doi" :follow org-link--open-doi)) org-latex-format-headline-function 'org-latex-format-headline-default-function org-link-elisp-confirm-function 'yes-or-no-p org-latex-format-inlinetask-function 'org-latex-format-inlinetask-default-function org-html-format-drawer-function #[514 "\207" [] 3 "\n\n(fn NAME CONTENTS)"] org-html-format-headline-function 'org-html-format-headline-default-function )